Henry Eugene Harper

Henry E. Harper, a lifetime resident of Beaumont, died peacefully Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 in his new home of 8 months in Kingwood, Texas. He was born on September 22nd, 1925 to Michael F. Harper and Susan Castine Purvis Harper. Graduating from South Park High School in 1942, Henry attended Lon Morris College prior to enlisting in the US Navy in 1944. A proud WW II naval veteran, Henry served on a LCT landing craft tank in the Pacific and fought during the Iwo Jima invasion. After completing his tour of duty, Henry returned to Beaumont and married Virginia Lee Ermis. Their 65 year marriage was blessed by three children, five grandchildren and one great grandchild. He retired in 1984, after nearly 40 years as a chemical lab technician with Magnolia Oil, later ExxonMobil. In retirement, he enjoyed his hobbies of traveling, painting, fishing and spending time with his family. Along with many happy years of touring the US in their camper, three special travel memories were their trips to Hawaii, Canada and a cruise in Alaska. Henry also volunteered at Some Other Place Ministries and the Energy Museum in Beaumont. A lifelong Methodist, Henry was very active in many capacities at Roberts Avenue United Methodist Church, now known as McCabe- Roberts UMC, later at Wesley UMC and most recently Kingwood UMC. He was preceded in death by his youngest son, Wayne Lee Harper. He is survived by his wife Virginia Harper of Kingwood, and Linda Harper Ellis and husband Gerald of Beaumont, son Purvis Eugene Harper and his wife Lynn of Kingwood; five grandchildren, Eric Ellis of Washington, D.C., Petria Ellis of Beaumont, Shannon Harper Boyer and husband Daniel of Missouri City, Lauren Harper of Houston, Blake Harper of Washington, D.C., and one great- grandchild, Brayden Boyer. A gathering of friends and family will be Friday October 28th from 4-7pm at Claybar-Kelly-Watkins Funeral Home, 1155 N. 11th Street, Beaumont, TX 77702. The funeral service will be Saturday October 29th in the Claybar- Kelly- Watkins Funeral Home chapel at 2pm, with internment to follow at Forest Lawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to Some Other Place Ministries, 590 Center Street, Beaumont, TX 77701 or Society of St. Stephens, 1799 Woodland Hills Dr., Kingwood, Tx 77339. Complete and updated information may be found at www.clarbarfuneralhome.com